Monday, January 26, 2009

But this farming town of 1,500 wants its criminal element to stick around. Town leaders say they don't know what they will do without the free or ultra-cheap labor the jailbirds provide. "Oh my goodness, gracious, they are such an asset -- they are our public-works department," said Ms. Hall.

Last year, Charleston's prisoners did 39,337 hours of community work, prison officials say, roughly the equivalent of 19 full-timers.

When a minimum-security prison was built in downtown Wooster, Ohio, a decade ago, "we took a lot of heat" from people who didn't want it, says Capt. Charlie Hardman of the sheriff's department there. But now that budget cuts could close the facility, he says, "People are concerned. Who is going to pick up the litter?"

Why not view all of us as resources to be used as we best fit? Prison labor and robot labor eliminate the need for tiresome employees who hate their jobs, hate their lives and are consequently destructive.

It makes sense even further to go to a feudal system and enslave the chronically poor. They cannot manage their own lives, as is evidenced by the ghettos they create wherever they move. They cannot manage their own finances. They have trouble keeping jobs. Solution: tell them exactly what to do and provide a nice life for them via benevolent slavery.